


Leave Me in the Grey

by xenophileCorvid



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, F/M, Hogwarts, Karezi, M/M, Multi, Pepsicola
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-11-01
Packaged: 2017-12-28 10:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,698
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xenophileCorvid/pseuds/xenophileCorvid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It is grey outside, but the dorm room is full of colors that I love—the smell of the fire and the crimson and gold curtains, rich and satisfying. I'm told Hogwarts is beautiful, and I know it is. I can appreciate it in my own way." Eventual Karkat x Terezi; John x Dave; Hogwarts AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Rating: T for language, slash, and possible mature themes later on
> 
> Main pairings: Karkat x Terezi; John x Dave

 

Terezi's P.O.V.

It's the time of year when the air of my dorm room is cold enough that I wake up with a frozen nose, but it still seems too early in the season to leave a fire going all night. I stretch under my covers, shivering as my feet hit the cold, untouched area of the bed around me.

I sit up and wrap my arms around myself as I draw the curtains and slide onto the floor. My feet cry out in shocked discomfort as they hit the icy stone floor. It doesn't seem like anyone else is up yet. Drawing in a deep breath, I rub my arms and pick up the wand sitting on my bedside table, then flick it in the direction of the fireplace. Instantly, the room feels ten degrees warmer.

I walk to the window from which I can smell the slowly brightening sky and the wet ozone from the rain. It is gray outside, but the dorm room is full of colors that I love—the smell of the fire and the crimson and gold curtains, rich and satisfying. I'm told Hogwarts is beautiful, and I know it is. I can appreciate it in my own way.

My stomach growls and I dress quickly and hurry down the stairs to the Gryffindor common room, where I find Dave and John sitting in silence on the couch in front of the fire. Dave smells sleepy, but nods at me. I sit down between them so that all of our legs are touching. John frowns.

"Good morning," I say, sleep apparent in my voice.

"Morning," Dave groans.

"We were just about to head to breakfast," says John, standing. I follow his lead and pull Dave up with me, and the three of us walk together to the Great Hall.

John doesn't like me much, but I'll admit that I haven't been the nicest to him. Last year I caused a pretty major accident on a broomstick that landed him in the infirmary for a week. To be completely honest, it wasn't really an accident, either. Dave and I were dating at that time.

Dave and I are really good friends despite our breakup five months ago. Our relationship never really made it all the way from platonic to romantic, and we'd eventually decided to give the idea up. It ended up being for the best. I like our dynamic now.

The Great Hall is one of my favorite places at Hogwarts. There are so many wonderful scents and flavors. At this time, there aren't very many students around as it's pretty early. Most of them will show up within the next fifteen minutes, but we like to come early for breakfast before it gets too noisy. We sit at the end of the Gryffindor table, Dave and John across from me, and students soon begin trickling into the room. The food has already appeared on the table when I feel a presence plunk down in the seat next to me, close enough that I can just barely feel the warmth coming from his body. He lets out a frustrated sigh. Karkat. I'd know the smell of him anywhere. He is one of my best and oldest friends.

"Good morning, Karkat," I greet him.

"Yep, it's a f-ing lovely morning. Just look at that beautiful rainy sky." He gestures to the ceiling with his middle finger, and I frown. He is unusually grumpy today.

"Your panties too tight?" Dave asks.

Karkat flips him off, then quickly glances around to make sure that none of the teachers are watching. John snorts into his mug of hot chocolate and spills some on the table, quickly moving to sop it up with his napkin. Dave takes out his wand and finishes the job, and it ends up much neater than it would have otherwise.

"What's wrong, Karkat?" John asks.

"Nothings wrong, nooksniffer," he says, and then mumbles something about Ravenclaws. I pop a strawberry into my mouth and chew it slowly—red food is the best for thinking. I think about his Ravenclaw friends. It couldn't be Kanaya, so it had to be Sollux, which was my first guess anyway.

"Is it Sollux?" I say quietly, so that the boys across the table can't hear.

He clenches his jaw and shakes his head forcefully. I decide not to press the issue because I don't want to deal with an even angrier Karkat.

"What's your first class today?" John asks no one in particular.

"Potions," I say.

"Charms," Karkat grumbles.

"I'm sure you do great in that class," I grin.

"Yeah, Karkat's a real charmer," says Dave, face as straight as always. I know he's being sarcastic, but it's true. Karkat may be thoroughly unpleasant most of the time, but he has some sort of strange ability to make everyone like him. Even now, he smelled adorable.

"I have Defense Against the Dark Arts first," John says. He looks like he's about to continue, but his words are drowned out by the sudden arrival of the owls and the sound of a plethora of wings as they swoop over our heads and drop envelopes and parcels on the tables in front of us.

I have a letter today, and I tuck it away to read later. The rest of breakfast flies by in a flash and soon I'm sitting down in potion's class next to a messy-haired Hufflepuff named Gamzee. I like potion's class because there are lots of interesting smells. On the other hand, I always find it hard to resist tasting some of the potions that seem potentially delicious. The only thing that stops me is the consequences of whatever the potion does. That doesn't stop me from sampling the ingredients, though. No one else seems to have the problem of wanting to consume the potions except for the boy sitting next to me. Somehow, his potions always manage to turn into a bright, sickly green slime, no matter what he was originally supposed to be making. It's not nearly as appetizing as the successful potions, and I'm surprised he's even passing this class.

We set about creating the Drought of the Living Dead, one of the teacher's favorite potions to assign. I'm doing alright at first, but Gamzee keeps adding things to the potion at random until it turns the usual color and consistency. He sticks his finger in it, pulls it out, and licks the green slime off. Then he tries to convince me to try it.

In History of Magic, I sit with Karkat and Sollux in the back of the classroom, near the fireplace, and doodle pictures of dragons in a courtroom in my notebook. This is by far the most boring class—several of the students asleep, some are passing notes, others are doodling or daydreaming, and a blonde Gryffindor girl in front of me is writing a story complete with illustrations.

I hear paper wrinkling next to me and turn to find Karkat clenching a note in his fist. He shoves it into his pocket and scribbles something down too quickly and messily for me to smell what it says. He folds it in half and slides it forcefully towards Sollux. I can tell they're fighting—they're always fighting—but there's something different about this.

I write at the bottom of the page I'm drawing on and tilt it so Karkat can see.

_H3Y K4RK4T WH4TR3 YOU P4SS1NG N0T3S 4BOUT?_

He snarls and writes on his own page.

_NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS._

_:[ F1N3 1LL 4SK SOLLUX_

I tear out a piece of paper and reach across Karkat towards our Ravenclaw friend, but Karkat snatches it out of my hand before Sollux can touch it. He crumples it up and puts it in his pocket with the other note. Then he folds his arms on the table and buries his face in themand stays like that for the rest of the lecture.

After classes, I don't see Karkat in the common room where he usually is this time of day. Instead, it's just Dave and a seventh-year girl, each going about their own business. Dave looks like he is working on Transfiguration homework, but I know that isn't likely.

"Hey Dave," I say, and when he doesn't respond I wave my hand in front of his face. He turns slowly to look at me and I can tell that he has some sort of silencing charm around his head. He is probably listening to music. He turns the music off, though, and hands me a drawing.

I cackle as I read through the comic. I swear this boy is one of the wittiest people I know. I shuffle around in my book back and pull out a scrap I tore from a poster. I've drawn a pair of sunglasses onto the wizard in the moving picture, cleverly missing his face by just a smidgeon. Dave cracks a grin and folds the picture into the pages of his transfiguration book.

"Have you seen Karkat?" I ask.

"Nope. Sorry. We were gonna watch the quidditch team practice, too. I guess he's blowing me off."

I frown. "He's been acting kind of weird today."

"Nah, not Karkat. He's always like that."

Dave is wrong. I know that he and Karkat are good friends, but I've known Karkat longer and I can tell when something is up.

"Well, I'm gonna go to quidditch practice," I say, and walk up the stairs to put my books away and change before walking through the drizzling rain and the squishy wet grass toward the quidditch field.

I had to try out for the quidditch team three years in a row before they finally let me on. They tried to be sensitive and came up with all sorts of reasons that I didn't make the cut, but I knew that it came down to the fact that I'm blind. But this year, I finally convinced them that I'm good enough. I'm one of the three chasers. Our team is good, but it's not great. We beat the Hufflepuffs, but our upcoming game against the Ravenclaws has been making everyone nervous.

The quidditch field is soggy and the team stands around in wet silence as we listen to our captain, Jake English. He goes on and on and I start to tune him out. It's really too cold to be standing in the rain like this. My nose is starting to run and I sniffle.

We mount our brooms and begin our regular practice. Jake lets the snitch and the bludgers loose, and they begin zooming around the field. I'm flying back and forth at full speed, and my ability to "see" is dimming with my sense of smell as the cold make my nose run. I try to wipe my face with my sleeve, but it's wet and it doesn't really help. I'm loosing my surroundings as I'm forced to breath through my mouth, and suddenly I can't tell where I'm going. I've lost the quaffle and my teammates and the goals.

"Watch out!" someone yells. Except I can't see. And if I had time, I would make some sort of sarcastic remark to express such. However, before I can say anything, something collides with my head, and I'm tumbling to the ground.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

John's P.O.V.

 

Sometimes Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite class—when we learn hexes—and sometimes it is just boring. Today it is just boring. I'm sitting next to my best friend, Dave, and watching as he draws comics in the margins of his textbook. I idly twirl my wand around in my fingers, even though I know better than to do that. It's dangerous. But I'm bored. The teacher looks turns to face the class and I quickly set my wand down before she can catch me being irresponsible. Sighing, I begin humming one of my favorite tunes. It's a romantic muggle song.

“Mr. Egbert,” says the professor, Ms. Serket. She wears cat-eye classes and a short blue dress under her robe. She's the kind of teacher that students get crushes on, much like my cousin, Jake. Personally, I don't like her much. Something about her seems like she's always manipulating people, even if I can't pinpoint anything specific. Her gaze reminds me of a spider.

“Yes?” I answer.

“Five points from Gryffindor. It's rude to sing while your teacher is speaking.”

I don't say anything. Instead, I glance at Dave. His expression is unreadable, as normal. He goes back to his drawings as soon as she turns her attention from us.

Sighing, I rest my head on my desk and dream up a prank to pull on Ms. Serket. I could charm all of her books shut. But spells can be traced back to wands—I learned that the hard way—so it's best the stick with old-fashioned pranks that don't involve magic.

My thoughts are interrupted when Dave taps my arm and points at his notebook, where he has written something.

_wanna watch the quidditch practice with me and karkat_

I shake my head, and before I can reply, he's scribbling something else.

_if you need to study i can help you get done faster_

I shake my head again and write a response in my own notebook, placing it where he can see it.

_Detention_

_what for_

_The library prank last week_

I see a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

When classes are over, Dave leaves me to meet Karkat and I walk to the library where I will be doing some sort of chore. I honestly feel a little bit left out. Dave and Karkat are both my friends and they get to go have fun together without me. I know it's my own fault, but who wanted to read those books, anyway?

The library is furnished beautifully, but it is dismal with the gray light coming in the windows. I'm very conscious of every step I take because it is so quiet in there. Some of the floorboards creak, and I feel like everyone will turn and look at me if I make too much noise. Surprisingly, there aren't many students in the library right now. I stop at the front desk to find out what I need to do. The librarian gives me a piece of paper and a quill and sets me about writing an apology note to all the students that I inconvenienced. The prank had been a simple one, in which books began swapping titles. Someone might pick up a book called _Spell Etiquette_ and find instead everything they ever wanted to know about dusk-blooming choke vine.

When I finish the apology, I am assigned the boring task of shelving books. I've never been very good at alphabetizing anything, and this job is long and boring. The librarian tells me that I can go as soon as I finish shelving the cart that I'm assigned. She also takes my wand so that I have to do it manually.

I'm sitting on the floor and almost half-way through when I hear footsteps behind me and small cough. I turn around to see a boy with ashy hair and bloodshot eyes looking down at me. He's a Slytherin, wearing a long scarf and a wool sweater and looking incredibly frail.

“Um, hi,” I say.

“Hello,” he replies.

There is a very awkward silence. I glance at the books, then back at him, and twiddle my thumbs a little. I decide to introduce myself.

“I'm John.”

“I'm Henry,” he says, punctuating it with a cough. “What did you do?”

“Oh, I just played a little prank,” I explain. “Now I'm paying for it.”

“They can trace spells back to the wand that casts them,” he offers.

“Yeah, I know that now.” I clear my throat. Why is he talking to me? I'm a Gryffindor.

“Um... can I have that book?” he points to the book I'm about to shelve— _The Healing Magic of Underwater Faeries._

“Yeah, sure!” I hand it to him and smile, hoping that he goes away. I don't want to be caught talking to a Slytherin, but I don't want to seem rude.

“Thanks.”

He stands there in silence for a few more seconds, then sneezes and walks away. I let out a relieved breath and go back to alphabetizing the books.

It takes me almost another hour to finish, and I hurry back to the Gryffindor tower. The common room is empty except for Dave, sprawled on the sofa and sleeping with his mouth open, an open book resting on his stomach. His shades are slightly askew and I can see a few freckles on his cheek. I stop for a moment and walk slowly towards him.

Naturally, my first instinct would be to take this golden opportunity to play a prank on him. But as I look at his sleeping face, I suddenly lose my motivation and the grin I was wearing fades. It's amazing that Dave doesn't have a girlfriend—he's so handsome, why wouldn't he? It wasn't something we ever talked about unless Karkat was driving the conversation, and even then Dave and I never really said anything about our own feelings.

I pick the book up and glance inside to find more doodles like ones he'd been doing in class. Setting the book aside, I sit on the floor next to him and lean my head against the couch as I flip through his text book. He's written some really terrible raps along some of the pages, and I can't help but snort at some of his lyrics.

The room is silent enough that I can hear the rain tapping at the windows and Dave's even breathing, and crisp turn of every page as I flip through the book. The entire thing is rather relaxing, actually. I could fall asleep right here on the fluffy red carpet. Suddenly, the door bursts open and Karkat comes stomping in. He plops into an armchair and lets out a long, irritated sigh. I feel the sofa cushions shift behind me as Dave sits up. He yawns, and then turns his attention toward Karkat.

“You stood me up, bro,” he says with mock disappointment.

“It's not like it was a date,” Karkat replies.

“Yeah. You're right. John and I had a good enough time without you.”

“Actually,” I begin, “I just got out of--”

“Quidditch practice was the shit,” Dave interrupts me.

“Well I'm glad you had fun standing in the rain,” says Karkat.

“We did, didn't we John?”

“Oh, yeah... I guess,” I say, waiting for Karkat to point out that neither of us are wet, and that the quidditch practice shouldn't even be over yet, and Dave was asleep when he entered the room. But he doesn't say anything, which is rare for him.

“Where'd you go, anyway?” Dave asks.

“None of your sweet sticky bumbling business.”

At that moment Jake English enters the room, his face a mess of anxiety. He looks at the three of us like he wants to apologize and says, “You chaps should probably hurry down to the infirmary. It's Terezi.”

Dave and Karkat exchange a look, and both of them are on their feet in seconds and whisking out of the common room. I follow them, because what else am I supposed to do? They're practically running and hardly waiting for the moving staircases, and it's quite a job to keep up. Neither of them seem winded when we finally reach the infirmary, but I'm taking deep breaths through my nose and trying to look composed. I make the mistake of walking in with them and I realize then that I should have stayed outside. Terezi is lying unconscious on one of the beds, her face a blood-stained mess. Both of them rush towards her, but the nurse stops them.

“One visitor at a time,” she says sternly. Karkat gives Dave a pleading look, and he nods and leaves the room, placing a hand on my shoulder on his way out to indicate for me to follow him. He's a nervous wreck as we wait outside. He runs his hands through his hair once—something I've never seen him do before, and leans against the wall outside the infirmary. I don't say anything, and instead just watch him peek in the window every few minutes. I feel like I should offer some kind of comfort, but I don't know what to say. The whole thing is incredibly awkward, and I wish I could leave or do something useful.

Sollux shows up after a while and asks us what's going on with Terezi. We can't tell him since we don't know anything ourselves. Eventually, Karkat emerges from the infirmary.

“She broke several bones and got pretty scratched up, and they think she has a concussion, but chances are that she will be fine.” He addresses this to Dave, who nods and pushes past him through the infirmary doors. Karkat stands next to me for a moment, glares at Sollux, and gives him the middle finger before walking away. Sollux smirks and watches with amusement as he leaves.

I step towards the doors and peer in the window. Dave is standing next to Terezi's bed. He's saying something that I can't hear. He picks up her hand and squeezes it then carefully brushes some hair out of her face. He looks so incredibly gentle and something in the pit of my stomach is churning. The nurse approaches him and he nods at her and glances toward me, but I don't think he sees me. Then he leans down and lightly kisses Terezi's forehead.

I step away from the window, something sinking in my chest. I can't really explain the feeling that is washing over me, but it is something like being hit by a cold wave. I can almost taste the saltwater. I look briefly at Sollux, who is still standing next to me, and then take off as fast as I can without actually running.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like this story, I update it faster on fanfiction.net. I already have five chapter up there. I'll work on getting them on here over the next few days, though.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, lovelies! I'm estimating that this story will be 15-20 chapters long. I already have the first four written, so I hope to update regularly (about once a week.)
> 
> A big thanks to my sister for beta-reading.
> 
> Please leave a review on your way out.


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